FME Official Guide to The Five Combat Jack Episodes you need to hear

This is not a podcast review. I have never been able to wrap my head around why those exist. I love podcasts and have heard A LOT of them but only two hip hop podcasts are must listen for me(the other being Ice-T’s Final Level podcast) and Combat Jack is the top of that list. Combat is a former attorney who represented artists, most famously doing work for The Rocafella clique during their heyday. It’s interesting to hear him wax nostalgic on relationships with industry guys like Steve Stoute but that’s not the reason to listen. Without ever coming across as a glory hound looking for pull quotes, Combat manages to really probe and ask follow up questions that don’t put his guest on the spot but put us closer to the guests experience. He’s not afraid to declare his allegiance to what kind of hip hop he supports; he dedicated an entire show to Cormega’s widely overlooked and supremely thoughtful Mega Philosophy album. Shout out to Premium Pete who closes out most episodes with a heartfelt thank you to the guest not just for coming but for being important to the culture. Here are the five shows you will need to hear as a hip hop fan just to catch up.

Scarface

On top of being a top five dead or alive guy, Face is an incredible interview. He digs deeply into drugs and depression, the problems with rap today. Scarface has such a great nose for talent (having discovered Ludacris and Devin The Dude) that his passionate support of Nipsey Hussle made me completely rethink and relisten. The other really interesting moment from this is Scarface playing guitar and talking about how much he loves Pink Floyd. I don’t like them one bit but I had never heard his favorite album of theirs, The Final Cut, so I gave it a shot and it is awesome; awesome in a totally Scarface way; hardcore, wounded, and honest.

stream or download this episode below:

Dame Dash 1 &2 & any others you can find

Dame Dash is out of his mind. When you get him in the studio with Just Blaze and Combat the old work personalities start to clash again. Dame can’t stop making fun of a jersey the legendary producer wore years ago. Just about anything Dame says sets Blaze off based on the history they have but beyond that…Dame is still important. He’s a brazen reminder for a new generation of hip hop fans that you can do it yourself. You don’t need to go begging for a terrible deal from a record company that doesn’t know how to market you. You can figure it out, and he’s the mouth that never stops saying that.

stream or download this episode below:

Chuck D featuring Keith Shocklee

This is a long one but every second is worth it. If you grew up a fan of Public Enemy you get answers to a lot of questions. You get to hear the story of Ice Cube meeting the production team that gave him Amerikkka’s Most Wanted and the real question…why is Flavor Flav in the group? Chuck is never afraid to tell you why and he really does.

stream or download this episode below:

Ice T

It really doesn’t matter what you think about his music. Two things are unquestionably true about Ice. He was at one time the most dangerous rapper in the world and he’s the best interview in rap. Ice has a way in conversation of being funny when you expect him to be serious, being thoughtful when you expected a simple answer. Everything he says he says confidently and in this long listen he takes you from Michael Mann Heat style heists to hearing himself discussed in Congress. It’s a must hear.

stream or download this episode below:

Joaquin “Waah” Dean Ruff Ryders episode

The mastermind behind the Ruff Ryders come up is at his most fascinating when Combat asks him what it’s like to be forced to wrangle DMX given all of his life’s…complications. The stories that follow are eye opening. The Ruff Ryders were such a special time in music so going behind that curtain is invaluable.

stream or download this episode below:

Theotis Jones does the shockingly unforgettable show art.

I still haven’t heard the new posts for Kool Keith and Juvenile both of which sound like they have top 5 potential.